One of the ways that we keep dPS free is by promoting quality products on Amazon. dPS earns a small commission from any purchase made from following these links.

The other great thing about this is that each month we also get a report from Amazon that shows us what products are being bought by our readers (it’s all anonymous data). From that report we’re able to generate these lists which are also added to our Popular Digital Cameras and Gear page.

The above list was generated from purchases from our readers between April-June 2011. It’s not every book that was bought but these 13 made up the vast majority of sales.

Thanks for supporting dPS in this way – we hope you find this best seller list informative as you consider future purchases.

Can anybody recommend some books that specifically talk about live music photography? Concert photography and all that type of stuff? That’s the field I’m currently spending a lot of time doing and I’m always interested in learning something new about my work.

http://digital-photography-school.com/ Darren Rowse

thanks all – fixed it and we now have 12 best books

http://www.danielmcvey.com Daniel McVey

I really like the Art of Seeing by John Fielder. One of my hero’s but great book for film or digital!

Edward

How did you determine what people were reading? Did I miss a survey? Not many reviews for most of these books…I’m surprised not to see some of the go to bibles in this list like ‘understanding exposure’ or ‘learning to see creatively’

Edward

Oops, missed the bottom part about how it was compiled…

Still, I’d be curious to see how many people bought these… Was it five or five thousand?

http://mervinmcdougall.com Mervin McDougall

I have had the pleasure of reading two of the twelve recommended books – The Eye Of The Photographer and Vision Mongers. Both were excellent books describing the fundamentals of composition and the workings of the photography business today.

I have bought quit a few other books since then but these are keepers in my library. One other book I don’t see in here that I believe is good for beginners is Within The Frame by David DuChemin, the same author of Vision Mongers.

http://www.kerstenbeck.com Erik Kerstenbeck

Hi

One book I would suggest is regarding Infrared Photography by Beth Sandidige. I know Beth and am coverting my Nikon D40X to IR through a company called LifePixel. I used to shoot IR Film and now I am excited to see this evolve to placing a Low Pass Filter over the sensor! Too Cool!

Perhaps it will add even more dimension to shots like this one of the barren Salton Sea!

I have read “Understanding Exposure”, that book should be given away with every DSLR sold, it’s the SLR beginners bible!

I have also read Freeman’s Photographer’s Eye, the only way to sum it up is that Freeman is the Steven Hawking of of the creative photographic world! LOL! It’s a hard book to work through but as to work your way through it you constantly get the little bulb in your head pinging into life as each part finally makes sense, after the second or third read, ha ha!

http://www.bycostello.com bycostello

more more to spend on amazon! nice list…

http://www.KellymanPhotography.com Chris Kellyman

I have read ‘Understanding Exposure’ by Bryan Peterson and it is an awesome resource for beginners and a good refresher for pros. I think I might make an effort to check out some of the other books on this list. Thanx Darren!

Perhaps the best book I have ever read on photography is “The Art of Photography” by Bruce Barnbaum. Whilst he spends a fair bit of the book on film photography his information is to die for. Covers all of the aspects of composition, light, tonal range etc. And yes it is available from Amazon.

http://www.nathanfrankephotography.com Nathan

I would add “The Ansel Adams Guide: Basic Techniques of Photography” by John Schaefer. It’s about film, but aperture, shutter speed, and the zone system are as applicable now as they were 80 years ago. It covers getting the correct exposure, how to select equipment, how to compose a shot, and how to develop and print a negative, for any luddites, or alternative processors out there (film is now an alternative process). I reread it every few years, along with my camera user’s manual.

LC

I just purchased four photography/photoshop books from Amazon yesterday and cannot wait until they are delivered today.

Some older comments

LC

September 3, 2011 12:04 am

I just purchased four photography/photoshop books from Amazon yesterday and cannot wait until they are delivered today.

Nathan

August 22, 2011 06:17 am

I would add "The Ansel Adams Guide: Basic Techniques of Photography" by John Schaefer. It's about film, but aperture, shutter speed, and the zone system are as applicable now as they were 80 years ago. It covers getting the correct exposure, how to select equipment, how to compose a shot, and how to develop and print a negative, for any luddites, or alternative processors out there (film is now an alternative process). I reread it every few years, along with my camera user's manual.

John

August 19, 2011 07:17 am

Perhaps the best book I have ever read on photography is "The Art of Photography" by Bruce Barnbaum. Whilst he spends a fair bit of the book on film photography his information is to die for. Covers all of the aspects of composition, light, tonal range etc. And yes it is available from Amazon.

I have read 'Understanding Exposure' by Bryan Peterson and it is an awesome resource for beginners and a good refresher for pros. I think I might make an effort to check out some of the other books on this list. Thanx Darren!

bycostello

August 15, 2011 06:38 pm

more more to spend on amazon! nice list...

Fuzzypiggy

August 15, 2011 05:30 pm

I have read "Understanding Exposure", that book should be given away with every DSLR sold, it's the SLR beginners bible!

I have also read Freeman's Photographer's Eye, the only way to sum it up is that Freeman is the Steven Hawking of of the creative photographic world! LOL! It's a hard book to work through but as to work your way through it you constantly get the little bulb in your head pinging into life as each part finally makes sense, after the second or third read, ha ha!

Erik Kerstenbeck

August 15, 2011 03:11 pm

Hi

One book I would suggest is regarding Infrared Photography by Beth Sandidige. I know Beth and am coverting my Nikon D40X to IR through a company called LifePixel. I used to shoot IR Film and now I am excited to see this evolve to placing a Low Pass Filter over the sensor! Too Cool!

Perhaps it will add even more dimension to shots like this one of the barren Salton Sea!

http://kerstenbeckphotoart.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/the-fish-eye/

Mervin McDougall

August 15, 2011 12:08 pm

I have had the pleasure of reading two of the twelve recommended books - The Eye Of The Photographer and Vision Mongers. Both were excellent books describing the fundamentals of composition and the workings of the photography business today.

I have bought quit a few other books since then but these are keepers in my library. One other book I don't see in here that I believe is good for beginners is Within The Frame by David DuChemin, the same author of Vision Mongers.

Edward

August 15, 2011 11:42 am

Oops, missed the bottom part about how it was compiled...

Still, I'd be curious to see how many people bought these... Was it five or five thousand?

Edward

August 15, 2011 11:41 am

How did you determine what people were reading? Did I miss a survey? Not many reviews for most of these books...I'm surprised not to see some of the go to bibles in this list like 'understanding exposure' or 'learning to see creatively'

Daniel McVey

August 15, 2011 09:48 am

I really like the Art of Seeing by John Fielder. One of my hero's but great book for film or digital!

Darren Rowse

August 15, 2011 09:19 am

thanks all - fixed it and we now have 12 best books :-)

Andrew MacDonald

August 15, 2011 08:26 am

Thanks, Darren.

Can anybody recommend some books that specifically talk about live music photography? Concert photography and all that type of stuff? That's the field I'm currently spending a lot of time doing and I'm always interested in learning something new about my work.